U2 Are This Year’s Global Icon Winners!

This year's Global Icon award is going to U2! The legendary Irish rock band will be joining the ranks of EMA Global Icon royalty like Whitney Houston, Queen and Eminem.

U2 will mark the occasion with a performance on EMA eve, Saturday 11 November, in London's fittingly iconic Trafalgar Square. They'll be part of the MTV Presents Trafalgar Square lineup of huge acts performing that night. Then international audiences will get to experience U2's performance when it's broadcast during the EMA the very next night, 12 November.

There are few bands more deserving of the Global Icon award than U2. They've been rocking out for an incredible 39 years, released a total of 13 LPs, sold over 170 million albums worldwide and have won more Grammys than any other rock band.

From the beginning, U2 were notable their drive and ambition, forming as a band "… before they could play". Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton met at Mount Temple School in Dublin and formed U2 in 1978. When they first started out, their sound was unlike anything else happening in the rock world and proved to be what the people wanted. The band's earnest, spiritual and socially-conscious lyrics have resonated with music lovers all over the world for decades.

U2 is currently celebrating the 30th anniversary of their insanely popular and critically-acclaimed album, The Joshua Tree, which gave the world timeless hits like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You."

The band recently dropped a new song titled, "Get Out of Your Own Way," from their upcoming (14th!) LP featuring spoken word from no other than Kendrick Lamar. The full album drops in December.